As the more recent handset, the Mega 6.3 flaunts the latest Android 4.2 version, with Samsung's new TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0 on top, whereas the Note II takes it down a notch with Android 4.1.2.

Besides lockscreen widgets and the other goodies that come with the latest Android OS iteration, the Galaxy Mega 6.3 is also graced with some of the eye-tracking and gesture navigation novelties present in the flagship Galaxy S4, like AirView or Smart Stay.

The Note II strikes back with the excellent suite of apps for note-taking, drawing, handwriting and so on, which make a really good use of the stylus, and set it apart from anything that doesn't have one.

Both handsets feature the useful mitli-window mode that splits the screen in two so you can run two apps at once. One can argue that on the larger screen of the Mega 6.3 this mode is more functional, but in reality the stylus and the ability to hover the keyboard over the split screen make the multi-window mode great to manage on the Note II as well.

The default keyboard of the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3

The keyboard of the Samsung Galaxy Note II

Processor and memory

The Note II is powered by a 1.6 GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos 4412, which is built with ARM's Cortex-A9 architecture that was all the rage last year. The Galaxy Mega 6.3 doesn't use the latest and greatest Qualcomm Sanpdragon 600 /800, but instead settles with a 1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 chip meant for midrangers.

This chip's instructions are closer to ARM's Cortex-A15 design, and it is built with the 28nm process, so the performance/power consumption ratio should be in its favor. Is it so in benchmarks? Well, the results show the two phones are actually in a similar boat when it comes to synthetic performance, and we also didn't notice any glaring lag or stuttering, so we can call it even here.

Quadrant Standard

AnTuTu

GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)

Vellamo(HTML5 / Metal)

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3

6828

13392

2980 / 25 fps

2000 / 698

Samsung Galaxy Note II

7093

17047

1972 / 17fps

1866 / 619

The Note II sports 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, while the Mega 6.3 has a gig and a half RAM, and 4/8/16GB of storage, depending on the model. Both, however, have microSD card slots for expansion.

Internet and connectivity

Samsung's own TouchWiz browser is what graces the two handsets, with its fast rendering capabilities, somewhat blocky interface, and the ability to run Adobe Flash content off the bat. Its performance is slightly choppier on the Mega 6.3, compared to the Note II, but the former has the advantage of a larger screen estate to make browsing a joy.

Samsung's own TouchWiz browser is what graces the two handsets

As for connectivity, both handsets support 21.1 Mbit/s HSPA+ download speeds, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, NFC and DLNA streaming. The Wi-Fi radio of the Note 6.3 supports the latest and fast 802.11ac standard, that can hit 1Gbit downloads if you have the respective connection and router. Wired connectivity is carried out by the MHL port at the bottom of both devices.

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